The present invention relates to a pipe connector and a pipe-connected embedded box including the same.
In order to distribute cold water and hot water into a building, a pipe-connected embedded box has been used. Connectors having various pipe structures are connected to the pipe-connected embedded box in order to supply cold water and hot water in several directions.
Most pipe connectors are formed using plastic through injection molding. However, the injection molding can be used only when internal fluid channels cross each other, and the internal fluid channels that connect the fluid channels to each other are not able to be formed by slide cores when these fluid channels do not cross each other. Thus, a connector including two or more fluid channels which do not cross each other is used is manufactured by not a plastic injection molding but a casting method using a metal material such as brass or cast iron. The weight of the metal connector is heavy, and the productivity thereof is remarkably decreased. Further, the material cost of the metal connector is expensive, and thus, the manufacturing cost thereof is greatly higher than that of a product formed through injection molding.
Meanwhile, a method of manufacturing the internal fluid channel that connects the non-crossing fluid channels to each other using a separate metal material and forming the internal fluid channel through insert molding can be expected. However, this method has a problem that separate inserts for internal fluid channels need to be cast using metal. Furthermore, since the inserts are made from the metal different the plastic, a problem that the metal is separated from the plastic due to a change in temperature or deformation of material in an actual usage environment occurs, and there is a limitation on durable usage.